Reader's View: Local Civil Air Patrol cadet travels to DC

My name is Jessi Rapelje and I am a 16-year-old junior and an officer in Civil Air Patrol's cadet program. This program has provided me with numerous opportunities to view and practice leadership and, most recently, gave me the opportunity to travel to our nation's capitol to participate in an event called Civic Leadership Academy.

This program is part of CAP's National Cadet Special Activities, which allows young people to learn about both military and civilian jobs and teach leadership skills. Civic Leadership Academy provided me with the opportunity to learn about and experience the federal government in action.

Because it is a national-level activity, 24 top cadets from many different states participated. Cadet Bailee Facemyer from Utah said, "I wish I went to school with all the incredible people I met at CLA," after the week ended.

Not only did we all have the opportunity to visit the monuments and museums in Washington, D.C., we also learned about and participated in government. While we were there, we had the opportunity to visit the National Air and Space Museum and received a private tour from Mary Feik.

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Feik was a World War II aviation engineer who trained in mechanics for the military. Although a civilian and a woman in a time when women were not engineers, Feik helped to pioneer aircraft engineering. She was a wealth of knowledge in the field of aircraft and an inspiration as she told us about the museum and her personal experience with many of the aircraft on display.

While in Washington, my fellow cadets and I were able to learn from people who worked in numerous branches of government. During our first full day, we went to the State Department and Supreme Court. At the State Department headquarters in D.C., diplomatic efforts are coordinated. This requires many different people working in many different fields including public relations, aeronautics, diplomacy and linguistics. My group had the opportunity to meet and have lunch with several individuals who work for this integral part of the government.

Late in the week, we met with the clerk of the Supreme Court, the man responsible for maintaining the records and dockets of the court. During our trip, we experienced these and other branches of government first-hand and learned more about what is required of people in these positions.

Our week culminated in Civil Air Patrol's National Legislative Day. This is a day when CAP members from every state come to Washington to lobby for issues important to the organization. My group was prepared for this all week, and I was able to work with two other cadets from New York state who attended the academy.

Max Rogovin, another New York cadet, said, "The CLA program gave me an opportunity to understand how the federal government operates. If that wasn't enough, it even gave the opportunity to be a part of the system. I couldn't imagine anything more productive."

One of Civil Air Patrol's main goals this year was to get co-signers in Congress for a bill to give a Congressional Gold Metal to Civil Air Patrol pilots who flew defense missions during World War II. I met with several staffers of congressmembers from New York and even got to meet personally with Congressman Bill Owens, my representative.

Civic Leadership Academy gave me many unique opportunities to participate in government.

Overall, Civil Air Patrol is a great program that has provided me with many extremely rare and interesting opportunities. I am extremely thankful for my opportunity in Washington, D.C., especially because I intend to pursue a career in law and possibly government.

Scarlett Thomas, a cadet from Florida, said, "CLA opened my eyes to the heart of the U.S. government system."

I wholeheartedly agree with her.

From the academy, I learned many valuable lessons about leadership and my state government. We experienced many parts of government, including a Congressional hearing on the Department of Defense budget.

Altogether, my trip and Civil Air Patrol provided an incredible opportunity to experience my government and learn valuable skills. I encourage aspiring leaders of the future to not only learn more about Civil Air Patrol, but also to actively engage yourself in learning about your government at all levels.